A diverse group of talented footballers had the opportunity to earn from the competition’s elite this pre-season through the Geelong Cats’ Next Generation Academy (NGA), proudly supported by Viva Energy.

This year’s Geelong NGA contingent have attended two pre-season training sessions with Geelong’s AFL squad as part of their program at the club, with players and football staff dropping by to speak to the group and join drills.

The Next Generation Academy is a joint initiative between AFL Clubs and the AFL to offer skills training and development opportunities for new and existing footballers from First Nations and culturally diverse backgrounds, with father-son prospects also training alongside the NGA players.

Recent Geelong rookie draftees Ted Clohesy (NGA) and Osca Riccardi (father-son) are graduates of the program, which NGA coach Paul Hood said was good motivation for the class of 2023.

“Those guys are real inspirations and beacons for the young guys coming through, and the opportunity to be here today and see Osca and Ted go about their business, and understand what they do, is terrific,” he said.

“The really good thing about those two guys is they are both really hungry and really humble, and working really hard.”

Geelong’s NGA was at the club on Monday morning for their monthly training session, which Hood said was all about including the players into the club environment and giving them an insight into what is required at the elite level.

“(It gives them) the chance for them to see what the AFL players do, and understand all the steps on the journey from being a young player to what happens when you play at the elite level,” he said.

“It gives them the opportunity to take some of those steps themselves in future.

“Generally, we come in and we do a little bit of training ourselves – we had access to the stadium this morning, which is just amazing. We were out there training nice and early, and then the AFL squad and Matt Egan, Head of Player Development, invited the boys into their meeting, so they had a look at the information AFL players get before training.”

The NGA players also went over video edits with VFL coach Mark Corrigan, who gave them some insights into how Geelong plays, as well as decision-making around the ball, and the best way to prepare to help their teammates.

Geelong’s NGA will continue to meet for monthly training sessions throughout the year, with a view to helping the players progress through the V/Line Cup or AFL Barwon pathways programs, and potentially on to the Geelong Falcons as well.